People often ask us at UP8 what it takes to look for gold or stones in BC. The short answer: it depends on what you want to do and where. This is a high-level overview only. The official Mineral Titles pages linked below are the final word, and rules can change.
Photo: Trougnouf (Benoit Brummer), CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Recreational hand panning
Under BC's Mineral Tenure Act, a person who is not a free miner may hand pan for recreation. The Province's guidance is clear on the essentials:
- A Free Miner Certificate is not required.
- Only a hand pan and a shovel are allowed. No metal detectors, sluice boxes, suction dredges or other devices.
- Recreational panning reserves are areas of Crown land open to the public for hand panning.
- Outside those reserves you need permission first: from the recorded holder on a mineral or placer title, from the park authority in a park or protected area, from the First Nation on reserve or treaty settlement lands, and from the owner on private property.
- Panning is not allowed on provincial heritage sites.
The Free Miner Certificate
A Free Miner Certificate (FMC) is needed to apply for, acquire and maintain a mineral or placer title, and to access that title for exploration and development. It is valid for 12 months from the date it is issued. An FMC does not let you use a title for residential or recreational purposes, put structures on it, or carry out mining activity such as exploration or road building without approval from a regional mines office.
UP8's founder holds an FMC. As we say on our Ethics page, that is standing to explore. It is not a mine permit and not a claim.
Finding out what's open
Mineral Titles Online (MTO) has public map viewers, a title and owner search, and a reserve search, and you don't need to log in to use them. Use them to check for titles, private land, reserves and parks before you go. We don't publish locations of active claims or private land.
The Province's own Mineral Titles pages open by acknowledging the territories of First Nations around BC. Wherever you pan, you are on someone's traditional territory. In the South Okanagan that is Syilx territory. Please ask, tread lightly and leave the ground as you found it.
Sources
← Back to Blog